Posted on 11/11/2014 7:35:05 AM PST by BenLurkin
No one knows exactly why a NASA solar probe stopped talking to Earth six weeks ago, but it’s possible the spacecraft is out of power and is drifting without a way of calling for help, the agency said in an update.
On Oct. 1, NASA suddenly lost contact with one of the two Solar TErrestrial RElations Observatory (STEREO) spacecraft, which are currently examining the far side of the Sun. The probes are considered crucial for solar forecasting, so the loss is a blow. While the STEREO-Behind probe has been mute since then, the agency says “not all hope is lost” for a recovery.
STEREO-Behind went silent after NASA deliberately reset the spacecraft. Along with its twin, STEREO-Ahead, in the coming years the spacecraft will need to reposition its antenna to avoid getting fried by the Sun. Also, there is a period where each spacecraft will need to work autonomously, because the Sun’s radio interference will make it difficult or impossible for communications to get through.
(Excerpt) Read more at universetoday.com ...
They obviously are on the night side of the sun. Its dark there so they are asleep. Wait a while./sarc for you folks in Rio Linda.
Oh you beat me to the “they should have sent it at night” joke. Darn it.
Maybe the Norks can help. They landed on the night side of the sun.
NASA is not what it once was. Not only have they lost their technical edge, but they have lost their masculinity. It takes metrosexual liberals to come up with a name like STEREO, creating painfully twisting acronyms using a word like “relations” to describe how the earth is affected by the sun. There is no relationship there. It goes only one way, the planet earth has practically no effect on the sun.
I think it found the cord that powers the Sun! Besides that, it is dark back there! So no solar power for the space ship!
Or it could be like the Clementine mission - publicly silent, but still here and dumping data.
The original title of this article was a bit awkward-
“Solar Probe Gets Too Close To Sun, Goes Dark.”
Cute acronyms for the probes, although STEREO-L & STEREO-R would’ve made more sense… Perhaps the next series will be named DOLBY (since they’ll probably also get Blinded with the Science ;)
-PJ
Is there a an article that explains this? Can’t quite figure out what’s what.
But Muslims have more self-esteem now, so it’s not all bad for NASA.
I figured it out.
The probe is fine, but the sun went out. There's nothing left to forecast so it just stopped.
-PJ
So what are they going to find out, that it’s hot on the surface of the Sun? Who Knew?
Alien anti-aircraft gunners shot the thing down. The truth is out there, WAY out there!
-PJ
LOL, if you find one, let me know. I've been looking for a long time. I think Simon and Garfunkle wrote "The Sounds of Silence" to describe how this is being treated.
It gets even better if you run the max number of photos as a movie. Go to the SECCHI website at: http://secchi.nrl.navy.mil/sccimages/index.php
It's from the camera HI SREM B and it develops all the way up to the date of the photo I posted - August 18, 2014. For a long time afterwards there were no updates. Then when they came in - poof, different camera angle. This "thing" develops closer, and clearer, day by day, and then they turn the camera away.
Nothing to see, move along...
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.